Telephone-lock.



J. E. LAVALLEY.

TELEPHONE LOCK.

APPLICATION FILED MAY18,I915.

Patented Feb.22,1916.

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a]?? La v@ C v ICE JOHNE. nAvaLLEY, or ronrnann. cannon.

TELEPHONE-LOCK.

specification of Letters Patent.

To all whom it may concern-"V Be it known that 1, JOHN E. LAVALLEY, a citizen ofthe United States, residing at Portland, in the county of Multnomah and State of Oregon, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Telephone Locks,fof which the following is a specification.."- My invention relates to new and useful improvements in locks for telephones, theprimary object of myinvention being the provision of a lock applicable to telephones of the desk type which, when in place, will prevent unauthorized use of "the" telephone. Oftentimes, telephone subscribers, upon a. limited call basisQfind-that their bills are much higher than they' believe proper, this generally being due to the use of the telephone by others and being particularly com mon with telephones in oiiices,-stores and similar places. a a

The primary. object of my; invention con-' sists in the provision of a simple device which may be readily applied to" or com-* pletely removed from-a telephone instrument of the" desk type and which-,wlien applied,-

' :Will absolutely prevent upward movement of the receiver 'supporting hook and, consequently, prevent use of. the telephone 1n strument. I

in constructing a device of the above chart-:

acterin the form of a coll r adapted to embrace the standard of the instrument and to engageat one edge beneath the shoulder at the upper end of the standard and at its other edge against the receiver supporting hook. v

A still further object of my-invention consists informing. the collar in anumbenof sectionshingedlyconnected and in provid ingthe free 'endof one section with a lock mechanism; and the free :endof the. other. section witha hook or latch member engage able by the lockmechanism. v v 1 1 A still further-obj ect of my invention consists -in providing the lower edgeofthe locking collar with a notch or. slot to receive the receiver holding arm of the telephone instrument and the innerrface of one of the collar sections with a-stud or projecting shoulder Application filed May 18,

1915. Serial No. 28,885.

trated in the accompanying drawings, and

Patented Feb. 22, 19.16., i

then specifically pointed out in the claims which are attached to and form a part orfi-v i this application.

In the drawings: Figure 1 is a fragmentary perspective yiew of a conventional form a of telephone instrument of the desk type, showing my improved lock applied thereto;

Fig. 2 is avertical, sectional view taken through the standard of the telephone instrument and locking collar; Fig. 3 isa per-: spective view of mylocking collar removed from the instrument and in open positio this view showing the inside construction of and the key which isemploye'd in connection with the lock.

- the collar; Fig; 4: is a longitudinal sectional I view through one of the terminalmembers of the collar, showing the lock structure Corresponding and like parts arereferred to in the following description and indicated I in all the views of the drawings by the same v reference characters. In order to insure a clear and accurate understanding of my invention and its application, it is necessary that a comprehension of the construction of an ordinary telephone i. instrument of the desk type be had. In

Figs. land 2 of the drawings I have illus- 1 trated the tubular standard portion 10- of A further object of myinventionconsists adesktelephone, which portion incloses the 1 current carrying wires and the receiver arm operated switch by means of which-the in: I

strument put in communication with. the telephone line. The upper end of thisstands weight of the receiver, when in the receiver hook l6, holding such hook in lowered .posi tion and the switch within the standard lO'j in open position. A spring, not shown, is provided for moving the hook to raised posi-; tion upon removal of the receiver 17 to automatically closehthe circuit between the instrument and telephone line.

My invention, in the present instance, con

, insertible in the slot formedin the standard inventiomwillbe more all lsisififlih the provision of a l ki 1 5, v W ich may bejapplied to theistandardpmcf I of the instrument 'Q W d e lgf. l9 f thetelephcne instrument between the ceiver supportinggn f m ,pro'jectsi w sweep fil -i f i l1i1o With these and other oh ects view,v thy, t l k the, receiver 'hed, 1llusnumeral 18, andincluding an intermediate body portion 19 and end portions 20 and 21. The intermediate body portion is arcuate to correspond to-the cross sectional curvature of the standard 10 and at its ends is formed with spaced cars 22 adapted to engage between correspondingly formed cars 23 upon the adjacent ends of the terminal sections.

20 and 21 of the collar. The sections are hingedly connected. by pintle pins 24 passed through the intermeshing ears of the sections.

As previously stated, the intermediate section is arouateand as will be noted by reference to Fig. 2, the adjacent end portions of the terminal sections are also curved somewhat in order that one end of the section 20 may rest flatly against the end portion of the inner face of the section 21 when the collar is closed about the standard, as shown in Fig. 1, the ends of the terminal sections, thplrefore, being at right angles to each 0t er.

The collar is slightly greater in heightthan the distance between the upper face of the receiver supporting arm 15 when. the latter is in lowered position and the periphorally projecting flange 12 of the head 11. The lower edge of the intermediate section 19 of the collar is provided with a notch or slot 25 to receive the receiver supporting arm 15 and projecting from the inner face of such section and in vertical alinement with the notch 25, is a stud or shoulder 26 which projects into the upper end of the slot 14: when the collar is applied, this notch and stud co-acting to hold the collar against movement when applied and thereby, to a great extent, prevent any tampering with the device by an unauthorized person.

The terminal section20 of the collar, at its free end, has its outer face cut-away to receive the face plate 27 of a lock mechanism 28, such mechanism being inclosed in a recess 29 formed in the outer face of the sec- 7 tion 20 by the face plate which is secured by screw 30 or other suitable fastening devices, leaving the free end of the recess or look mechanism containing socket open, as clearly shown in Fig. 3. Rigidly secured in the socket orrecess 29, is aleaf spring 31, the free end of which projects toward and nearly to the open end of the socket, terminating in a hook portion 32. The lower wall of the collar section 20 is provided with a slot 33 through which the shank 34 of a key 35 may pass and to prevent use of any key other than the one intended or any other instrument in releasing the look. This slot is preferably provided with one or more shoulders 06 and the shank of the key formed with longitudinal grooves or channels 37 to receive the shoulders, as is common in the manufacture of locks. Furthermore, the key shank preferably has its free end narrowed or rounded off, as shown at 38, in order that it will not interfere with proper bending of the spring 31 upon forcing the key shank against such spring.

The opposite terminal section 21 of the collar, adjacent its free end, has formed upon its inner face a centering stud or pin 39 adapted to enter the upper portion of the open end of the lock socket 29 and a vertically alined hook or latch member l0 adapted to enter the lower portion of such socket and be lockingly engaged by the hooked terminal 32 "of the locking spring 31, as clearly shown in Fig. 4. The free end or hook portion of' the latch .or hook 10 has its outer face cut-away, as shown at 42, whereby it is reduced in thickness to permit the passage of the key shank into engagement with the locking spring 31.

In use, when the telephone instrument is to be looked, the locking collar, unless already unlocked is unlocked by insertion of the key 35 in the lock to force the lockin spring 31 out of engagement with the hoo 4:0. The collar is then swung to open posi tion, as shown in Fig. 3, and with the receiver 17 still on the hook 16, the intermediate section of the collar is seated upon the receiver arm 15, such arm engaging in the slot 25. The intermediate portion of the collar is then swung or pushed into engagement with the standard portion 10 of the telephone instrument until it bears between the receiver arm and flange 10 and until its shoulder or stud 26 seats in the upper end of the slot 14. The terminal sections 20 and 21 of the collar are then swung to bring their free ends together to the position shown in Fig. 1 when the hook 4O enters the socket 28 and is automatically engaged by the locking spring 31. It will be readily apparent that with the'collar locked in place in this manner, it-will be impossible to raise the receiver arm 15 and, consequently, all use of the telephone instrument will be prohibited. The owner can readily remove the collar at any time by merely forcing the shank of the key 35 through the key slot 33 and into engagement with the locking spring 31 to force .it out of locking engagement with the hook 40.

Although I have illustrated and described my invention in all its details of construci tion, it will of. course be understood that I mediate section and terminal sections hingedly connected to the ends of the intermediate section, -the collar being adapted to surround the standard portion of the instrument and engage between the receiver supporting arm and head portion of the instrument tohold the arm in lowered position, the intermediate portion of the. collar being formed with a receiver supporting arm receiving slot and the end portions of the collar being shaped to abut against each other at substantially right angles when the collar is closed, and locking means for securing the end portions together.

2. A locking device for desk telephones including; a collar having an intermediate receiver supporting arm engaging section and terminal sections hingedly connected to the ends of the intermediate section, the sections being shaped in such a manner that the free ends of the terminal sections may abnt each other when the collar is closed, and coacting means carried by the terminal sections for interlocking engagement.

In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOHN E. LAVALLEY. [L. s.] Witnesses:

JAMES H. MCMENAMIN, DANIEL T. BROWNE. 

